The Health Metrics Network (HMN) is one of the few contemporary global health initiatives that is dedicated to a health systems issue rather than a specific set of diseases or interventions. HMN is a global partnership facilitating research and technical innovations for better health information generated and used at country level for better health. To do so, HMN convenes health and statistical constituencies to build capacity and expertise to enhance the availability, quality, dissemination and use of information for decision-making.
HMN and STI see the generation of health information and evidence is a core function of health systems and essential for effective public health action. This funcion is the foundation for governance policy making, planning, resource allocation, programming, and service delivery. Unfortunately, sound information is rarely available in low-income developing countries due to chronic under investment in health information systems (HIS). But the situation is changing. There are now unprecedented demands for reliable and timely health data to support health sector development and monitor the impacts of the massively increased investments in health scaling up to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There are also unparalleled advances in information and communication technologies to facilitate and accelerate the supply and access to appropriate health information. For these reasons, staff of the Swiss Tropical Institute have assisted HMN since its inception.
HMN has the strategic goal to “increase the availability and use of timely and accurate health information by catalyzing the joint funding and development of core country health information systems”. HMN has laid out a vision and has identified strategies for HIS development and strengthening, supports countries in implementing such strategies, and generates new knowledge and global public goods through research, technical innovation, and sharing lessons learned.
HMN pursues three phased objectives:
- To create a harmonized framework for country HIS development (the HMN Framework) which describes standards for health information systems
- To strengthen country HIS by providing technical and catalytic financial support to apply the HMN Framework
- To ensure access and use of information by local, regional and global constituencies
HMN is working towards these objectives in three phases, two of which are well underway. The first has provided grants and tools to over 60 countries to galvanize leadership and to assess their current health information systems against the new vision, framework and standards from HMN (available for download at http://www.who.int/healthmetrics). The second provides tools to translate this into strategic and operational plans and budgets for long term funding. The third phase, about to begin, assists countries to strengthen the implementation of their reforming health information systems. HMN also supports research and innovation in new methods and approaches to generating information and packaging/communicating it for effective local use.
According to HMN “it is not because countries are poor that they cannot afford good health information; it is because they are poor that they cannot afford to be without it.”
Prof. Don de Savigny
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